An Unlikely Source
by Queen.Violet
Summary: Raul is feeling a bit down one day, and he gets a confidence boost from a very unlikely source. Appreciation fic for Demolition-GIRL-33236!


This is a just-because present (as I like to call it) and it is for my friend and loyal reviewer Demolition-GIRL-33236 (AKA Macy)! She's been one of my most awesome reviewers. Especially for my first story 'History' (which you should read if you haven't already...and review—it's never too late to review XD).

She herself is also a really great author and you should read some of her stuff, too!

She really loves Raul, so I thought I'd write this for her as a reward for her loyal reviewing...sorry it's so short Mace! But I didn't want to draw it out for fear of it becoming repetitive or stupid.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. So there should be no suing of the Riley! XD

Enjoy!

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It was a cold and slightly miserable morning, the sort of day that made people want to stay in bed—and of course nobody would even dream of going outside for any reason, let alone a walk. But as it happens, Raul Fernandez was doing just that.

This walk wasn't exactly something he was doing by choice, but he'd had to get away and try to collect his thoughts—though he wasn't sure what good that could do.

The redhead slid his hands into his jeans pockets as he walked. He would have liked nothing better than to turn around and go back to the hotel, but he didn't feel like talking to his sister anymore just yet. No matter how warm his bed was compared to the weather out here.

Well, he reasoned with himself, it isn't that bad out here...it's only a little chilly. Raul thought that maybe the atmosphere inside their hotel room had made the weather seem more gloomy than it actually was. It had been raining earlier and the sky was grey, which made everything else look grey as well.

Certainly not the worst the weather could be, but it wasn't improving Raul's mood any.

The redhead turned right at an intersection. He had no idea where he was headed, and he didn't really care much either. He just hoped he didn't get lost. Julia wouldn't be happy about that.

He frowned. Julia. The reason he was out here on such a miserable day.

His older (as she never failed to mention) sister hadn't been happy with Raul's performance during practice lately. He did fine when it was the two of them beyblading together, but when it came to doing it by himself, his skills just weren't up to scratch. At least according to Julia.

It seemed to Raul that she took every opportunity she could to criticize him. There wasn't much room for encouragement, and when there was it usually came in the form of a 'That was great! But try not to do this or that so much. Here watch me.'

This morning Julia and Raul had decided to get up early and practice, seeing as they were here for a tournament that was starting next week. Needless to say Julia wasn't exactly pleased with her brother, and she'd been so unbearable that Raul had just had to leave before he was on his last nerve and his self-esteem was shredded.

And still Julia wondered why he had such little confidence in himself.

Anyway, he'd left the hotel as quickly as he could—which hadn't really done anything to help Julia's mood, but there was no way Raul could listen to that any longer. He just hoped she didn't decide to follow him. Romero had still been asleep when he'd left. Maybe he would wake up and talk some sense into Julia...if he didn't have plans to flirt with a certain married blond woman.

Raul sighed and stopped to look around. He hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going, and was surprised to see that his feet had carried him to the park. At least he knew where he was. He decided to do more mindless walking there, that way there was less of a chance he would get hopelessly lost.

He walked around the park for a while, but then he decided to sit down and try not to think about Julia for the time being. What he really needed was some time to relax.

However, this didn't seem like it would come very easily once Raul caught sight of the individual headed in his general direction.

Bryan Kuznetsov was definitely not the person you wanted to see when you were having a bad day. He wasn't even a person you would want to see if you were having a good day.

The Russian was a very threatening figure. It didn't have very much to do with his size (although that could be threatening at times), it had more to do with his facial expressions and body language that sent the general message: 'Stay away and I won't kill you.' His glare could even rival the great Kai Hiwatari's. It was also a good reason to be worried if Bryan had a mischievous look about him. Most people didn't want to know what kind of mischief Bryan could cook up.

It didn't help his case any that he had acquired the reputation of a homicidal lunatic who enjoyed explosives and various other weapons more than was normal. It also didn't help that he'd been known to carry them with him whenever possible.

And it wasn't just that—Bryan seemed to enjoy this reputation. It was like he_ liked_ to scare people.

Raul wasn't sure that the Russian was as bloodthirsty as people thought, but he decided that he wasn't one to help you relax or raise your spirits any, so he'd be better off avoiding any and all contact. Keeping this in mind, the redhead tried to focus on anything but the approaching teen.

But it seemed fate had other plans, because pretty soon Bryan seated himself down right next to the circus boy.

Raul was not quite sure how to handle this situation. It wasn't exactly one that occurred often. He didn't want to offend the Russian by leaving, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to talk either, so he just sat there, completely unable to relax.

Finally, Bryan spoke—which indicated to Raul that he'd _meant_ to sit here, and it hadn't been some freak accident.

"Your name is Raul right?" he asked.

The redhead nodded, glancing at his unlikely companion. He didn't think Bryan looked like he was in a very menacing mood today, but he wasn't too sure. You could never be too sure about the Russian, Raul realized. He had, after all, been taught to block out every emotion but hate.

Bryan, meanwhile, took Raul's silence as an opportunity to try and figure out why Raul was not with Julia and what he was doing at the park so early—and on a miserable day like this. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but the circus boy seemed to be acting a little odd. Well, he was probably a little nervous about Bryan sitting next to him—most people would be—but there seemed to be something else bothering him. That was why the older teen had sat down in the first place, he ordinarily would've ignored anyone he met. He didn't know much about Raul, and he wasn't much of a people person, so he probably wouldn't be able to help much anyway. But for some reason he felt the need to at least try. He didn't know why...maybe he was getting a little too friendly. He'd have to be sure to tone that way down after this.

He studied the redhead. They were in a more remote section of the park, and Raul was staring at the thick forest across the path. Behind them were some more trees and beyond that was a lake.

Raul was sitting hunched forward with his forearms resting on his legs. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he stared blankly into the trees. It looked like he'd chosen to ignore Bryan unless the Russian started a conversation. Probably a smart idea considering the way Bryan usually acted.

He searched for a way to get the redhead to talk and decided that the best way would be to ask a question. "Aren't you usually with your sister?"

Raul's face hardened. "Julia..." he said almost angrily.

Bryan sensed he'd hit a nerve.

"I don't always have to be with her," Raul went on. His anger allowed him to speak more freely than he normally would under these circumstances.

Yep, he'd definitely hit a nerve. "Never said you did," Bryan defended himself. "I was just wondering."

There was silence for a while before the smaller teen spoke again.

"Sorry," he mumbled quietly as he sat up, leaning back on the bench. He still wasn't looking at the Russian, preferring to look at the trees. "I'm just not in a very good mood right now."

"You don't say..." Bryan said before he could decide if it was really appropriate.

The circus teen didn't seem to be offended, and if he was he didn't show it. He just sighed and continued staring into the woods.

Now that Bryan thought about it, the redhead did look a bit downcast. It didn't seem like he was in the mood for conversation though, so there wasn't much chance of him talking about his feelings. Bryan figured it must have something to do with Julia though, because Raul had seemed to get angry at the mention of her name.

A little while later, Bryan was about to leave when Raul spoke again.

"The reason I'm not with Julia is because of Julia..." he explained. "If that makes sense." When the Russian next to him nodded, he continued. "She doesn't seem to think I can do anything by myself and when I do convince her to let me blade by myself, I end up messing up big time. I'm just not as good as she is and she doesn't like to let me forget it." Raul had to admit that it did feel a little better to talk about it, but he was positive he wouldn't get any advice or helpful thoughts from his companion. He continued despite this. "She also doesn't offer much encouragement. She just thinks of everything I'm doing wrong and tells me how I should be more like her."

As the younger teen had expected, Bryan didn't say anything at first. But after some time, he spoke—which caught Raul by surprise. "It sounds to me like that is her way of encouraging you."

"Well I don't find it very encouraging," the redhead muttered.

"Most people don't. And that might not even be true. It just seems like she wants you to be good but isn't sure what to say or how to help you," the Russian explained. "Definitely wouldn't make a good coach." He realized that he wasn't just being too friendly, he was actually being _helpful_ and talking _too_ _much_. He was definitely going to do something about this later.

"Of course she wants me to be better! All she ever does is tell me how bad I am and how I should be better. I feel very unimportant and useless most of the time because of it." With that last sentence Raul had adverted his gaze from the trees to his hands folded on his lap.

"You're not useless, and you've got talent. I've seen a few of your matches believe it or not." Bryan was having trouble saying this, but he also had a problem with not saying it. He was just glad no one was around to hear this. He was actually _complimenting_ and _encouraging_ the other teen! He'd never hear the end of it if his team found out about this. Especially Ian.

"Really?" Raul asked, turning his green eyes on the Russian for a second to check that he wasn't wearing a sarcastic smirk before continuing to stare at his hands.

"Well you aren't half bad," Bryan said, changing his tone only a little so he didn't sound too sympathetic.

The circus teen sighed again. "Thanks."

"No problem."

The two sat in a comfortable silence for some time after that.

"I better get back," Raul said, breaking the silence as he stood. "I guess I'll see you around at the tournament next week," he said before waving and walking off, knowing he'd most likely never speak with the older teen again. But his confidence had been boosted considerably by getting a compliment from the anti-social Russian. He was surprised when Bryan showed up walking beside him.

"Pay attention to what people say to or about you, but don't take it all to heart. You shouldn't let your sister push you around like that—she's only what, five minutes older than you?"

If Raul had been surprised that the Russian had even bothered to speak to him again, then he was even more surprised at the words that were being spoken. "Six and a half actually," he mumbled, more to himself than to the teen beside him.

"If you ask me, you should spend more time just practicing and less time listening to Julia's criticism. Advice can be helpful if it's the right kind and amount—but you shouldn't let her constantly steamroll you like she does." Bryan was saying more than he usually did around people in a week and it was only about nine o'clock. He certainly hoped this wouldn't be passed around. He wouldn't even be doing it, but he knew what it was like to be criticized until you had zero confidence left. It happened all the time at the Abbey.

"Thanks," Raul answered, more than a little surprised by what he was hearing. He accepted the advice nonetheless.

Bryan simply nodded in reply. "One more thing," he said, stopping and forcing the redhead to do the same. "Don't tell anyone about this, or I'll have to come after you with the explosives that Kai thinks he hid from me."

He said this with such seriousness that although Raul tried to convince himself the older teen was joking, he couldn't.

"I won't say anything," Raul promised.

Once this had been said, Bryan turned and walked back the way they'd come. Raul watched him go for a second, wondering why on Earth the Russian had taken the time to talk to him. He couldn't think of a reason, but he was glad it had happened. He felt a lot better now—armed with a newfound confidence that would be hard for Julia to crush. Even the weather seemed cheerier.

Raul headed back to the hotel, knowing he would most likely be faced with a less-than-happy Julia when he returned. Oh well...at least he felt better about his beyblading skills. He just hoped that his confidence didn't fade or he didn't get too confident.

He wouldn't want to turn out like a certain annoying World Champion who had so much confidence that he often over-judged his abilities. (He could also clear a room with talk of how great he was.)

This day was turning out to be better than he'd expected.

* * *

Once again, I apologize for the shortness, but hopefully the saying 'Good things come in small packages' will apply here. XD

Hope you liked it!

Read and Review if you please!

P.S. This wasn't supposed to be yaoi, but if you want to take it that way, feel free.

P.P.S. Tori and I planning on writing another one-shot that we have an idea for, and we need pen names of some Beyblade fanfiction authors on here, so if it's okay for us to use your username and you like to write Beyblade, let me know so we can use it in what might be our first collaboration story! None of them will be used in a bad way! Thanks in advance!

P.P.P.S. (Holy crap...that's a lot of P.S.'s....) This story can claim the most astounding award! So far, it is the only one of my stories that does not contain at least one of the Majestics. Wowza! The things I do for you Mace...XD

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:D Surprise! :D

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For all of you who've managed to read this far, I've got something special for you! It's a sneak peek at the first chapter of 'Gathering Majesty'--which is the sequel to 'History'. **Please feel free to read it even if you haven't read the first one!**

Enjoy! Even though it's a little short....

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Leaning back in his chair, Johnny loosened and removed the tie of his school uniform. He wouldn't be needing it anymore if this meeting was anything like the others.

He just hoped they didn't make him sit and wait in the office for forever. He hated it when they did that. They either a) wanted to leave you in suspense and suffering as long as possible or b) wanted to give you time to reflect on what you'd done and feel guilty about it. Johnny didn't spend his time doing either of these. Instead, he thought about which school he would be attending next.

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Be aware that it may change a bit before it ends up in the actual story. I hope you liked it!


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